Very often, members of our team discover orphans in the course of their daily work. These stories are just one of the many reasons why it is so important to have a presence in the landscape. It was because of a regular water run that Serenget was discovered and saved.

On 23rd July 2025, the Voi bowser driver was delivering water to the SWT/KWS Lake Jipe Anti-Poaching Team when something caught his eye: a lone baby elephant, huddled beneath a tree. Knowing that something was wrong with this picture, he alerted our Kaluku Headquarters, who sent a team to the scene to investigate.

They found a calf who was thin, frightened, and had clearly been on her own for some time. But then, upon closer investigation, they discovered a further twist to her story: She was essentially immobile and could only manage a few hobbling steps before pain took over. The culprit was a deep, penetrating bullet wound on her front leg joint.

Serenget was not the first elephant to need this kind of care. Five months prior, Chapeyu had become our first patient at ‘Voi Hospital’. Like Serenget, he was rescued from the southern Tsavo ecosystem with a serious leg injury and needed a safe place to heal. Voi was a prime location, because it offered the company of older elephants and neighboured our SWT/KWS Tsavo Mobile Vet Unit headquarters. 

On veterinary assessment, it was clear that this would be a long journey, requiring multiple follow-up treatments. KWS authorised her rescue and we brought her to Voi. And thus, our hospital wing welcomed a new patient. 

Serenget slept well that first night. One could forgive her for being terrified of humans, but she clearly understood our intentions and was relieved to be in safe hands. Her new neighbours — Rokka, Sileita, Sholumai, Mushuru, and Busara — welcomed the little girl with friendly trunk touches.

Serenget received her first follow-up treatment a week after her rescue. Dr Limo remained guarded about her prognosis, given the severity of her injury. He advised that she remain in her stockade, giving the leg plenty of time to heal without any added stress. 

And so, little Serenget was prescribed bed rest — but we were determined to make it as pleasant as possible for her! We filled her stockade with a lush bed of hay and tied fresh grewia branches to every available post. 

Serenget proved to be a very cooperative patient. Like Chapeyu, she just seemed happy to be in a place that was entirely, safely hers. Slowly slowly, the shy, small elephant who once hid in the far corner started to approach the Keepers when they entered her stockade — a tentative step forward soon turned into an extended trunk, before she finally felt comfortable standing beside them. 

Serenget became a great favourite of the Keepers. Throughout the day, everyone found a reason to linger by her stockade, saying comforting words or blowing into her trunk. Despite her initial shyness, Serenget also proved to be quite social and always greeted a familiar face with a friendly trunk-first hello.

However, she had one notable quirk: Although she was rescued at an age in which she still would have been nursing from her mother, Serenget showed no interest in milk. We tried many different tactics — a bottle, a bucket, different formulas — but she flatly refused every attempt. Given her tenuous state, we were hesitant to take her on an excursion if we didn’t have the ‘hook’ of the milk. 

A new year began, Dr Limo proclaimed Serenget’s wound fully healed, and we finally discovered a solution to the milk situation: A Keeper would pour some milk into the tip of her trunk. Serenget would signal to the Keeper when it was full to the brim, then tilt the milk into her mouth. With this bit by bit, sip by sip approach, she could eventually drink two full bottles.

We had the milk, we had Dr Limo’s blessing, and finally the time had come for little Serenget to properly join her new family. On the morning of 5th February 2026, she was ushered out of her stockade and welcomed by Lemeki and Thamana. Our two oldest elephants laid their trunks over her head and along her back before introducing her to each and every member of the herd. 

Serenget spent the entire day out with the herd. Youngsters Busara, Baraka, and Losoito immediately clocked that she was now the smallest orphan — a situation they were most displeased about. However, when they made jealous moves to push her, mini matriarch Lemeki stood tall to defend the new girl. 

From that day forward, Serenget was a seamless member of the herd. She could often be found happily perched on the edge of the mud bath or the dust pile, admiring the showboaters. By month’s end, she was even showboating a bit herself!

All the older girls are very taken with Serenget, but Rokka has adopted her as her own baby. She scoops Serenget up first thing in the morning and then spends the day fussing over her, attending to her every need and hawkishly watching for any roughhousing in her vicinity. Serenget is also completely hooked on her Keepers and can usually be found lingering around them.

A bullet wound to the leg, seven months of bed rest, and now walking strong with the rest of the Voi herd — little Serenget has already been through so much in her life, but her journey is just beginning.